Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Chapter Twenty One

Isabella Swan

"My father, for one," I say immediately. I how I sound – I'm scrambling for excuses, excuses that sound hollow even to my ears. But I have an intrinsic need to resist for some reason unknown to me. Maybe to hold onto the ounce of independence I've retained. Maybe just to be stubborn. Maybe for no reason at all, really. I pull away from the gentle hand on my face. "And people will wonder where I've disappeared to."

Edward twists his mouth slightly, dropping his hand slowly. "That's true. We could formally excuse you from school. You could take time off."

"How much time?"

"I don't know, Bella."

I cross my arms over my chest, suddenly feeling cold – empty, like he's already left. Like I've already let him leave. "That's something I need to know, Edward."

Mint eyes catch my own, fixing me with a steady stare – so steady that I feel breathless, because I know he can feel my emotions and he knows exactly what I'm feeling. Confused. Reluctant. Sad.

It's an immeasurable moment as he watches me, studies every facet of my face as if he's sealing a memory. When he does speak, he sounds absolutely resolute. He leaves no room for argument as he introduces his compromise. "I will go," he begins, ignoring the painful stutter of my heart. "I will leave Alice and Jasper with you and after three days, you will go with them and come to me. Three days is enough time to say your good-byes, enough time to make a reason and pull out of your classes. But you will be with me, princess. I can't bear it if you're not."

I barely consider it; he's giving me exactly what I want, a way to have both of my worlds in a way that he deems safe. It's all I could have asked for.

I reach around his strong body, hugging him for all I'm worth. With his blood running through my veins, I feel stronger; I feel like my arms around him actually hold strength. Maybe he can feel how much I'll miss him.

Maybe he can feel how much I love him.

Edward presses a gentle kiss to my temple, wrapping his arms around me and simply breathing in my scent. After a long moment, he pulls away, his face a careful blank mask. Moving to the door, he opens it and speaks to Jasper, who risks a glance back at me – and I can see it in his eyes.

Jasper doesn't understand why I'm delaying.

It seems to me that vampires allow themselves to be ruled by logic above all else; and while that's certainly not a problem, it has absolutely no bearings here, in this situation.

Time, after that, seems to move faster – Alice arrives, Edward reluctantly leaves, Jasper ushers me into a nondescript town car which he drives to my dorm, and Alice makes herself at home in my room. She makes herself useful by printing off the correct forms from the university website and fills them out so that I won't have to deal with my un-enrollment. Jasper drops off a small meal and promptly leaves; Alice tells me that he is standing guard underneath the window.

After eating – and not really tasting the food, though it looks delicious – I shoot a quick text to Victoria, creating a fib about Dad's health condition to explain my upcoming, likely extended absence.

She sends her best wishes.

And then, finally, I allow myself to think of Edward. I'd avoided all thoughts of him for hours and it was simply unbearable.

I missed him.

It felt like half my heart was missing from my chest.

This was obsession I felt for him – surely it had to be.

But as much as my mind tried to convince my heart that my deep feelings for Edward were too fast and probably temporary, my body still seemed to call out for him.

Each place he bit me pulsed in a gentle cadence.

I could feel the ghost sensation of his lips on my own and, even worse, I could feel his hands moving over my body.

If Alice smelt any indication of the direction my thoughts had gone, she didn't give anything away – instead, she remained on my crappy computer, browsing a site of fanfiction, which I found ironic given her formal disposition. Maybe it was all an act; I could almost sense unbridled energy bursting from Alice's soul. Her formality was just that – a formality.

Upon waking the next morning, I sit up quickly, trying to figure out when I went to sleep in the first place. My fingers clutch the fabric of my pillowcase – the very pillow Edward's head rested on a few nights ago.

My heart lurches in my chest but my resolve is still strong – turn in the paperwork, say bye to Sue and Dad and then I'll be with him again. I might not even need the three days.

Alice, of course, is already up and working on my closet, seemingly organizing my clothes by season and color. She turns when she hears me sit up. "Good morning, my Lady," she says with a smile and slight curtsy. "What would you like to wear today?"

"Something warm," I murmur absently. "Alice, why don't you go ahead and pack up the clothes?"

Alice pauses her perusal of my closet and I sigh, feeling her eyes on my face as I look out the window, knowing Jasper hears this conversation as well. "My Lady?"

"I'll get started on boxing up the important stuff so we can drop it off at my Dad's house later," I say, suddenly uncomfortable with the order I gave her. I feel incredibly hypocritical as she picks out my clothing while I sit in shorts and my Navy shirt. "I don't think I can stay here another day," I add on idly, mostly speaking to myself.

Alice is quiet for a moment before she turns around and plucks clothing from my closet. "I understand, my Lady."

I sigh, standing and moving towards my desk. The next few minutes are filled with the rustling of clothing and the soft plunking of various objects being put in the medium sized box I keep under my bed. I frown when, upon cleaning off my desk, I come across an unfamiliar scarf – only, it's not so unfamiliar because I remember seeing Edward wear it not so long ago.

He'd left the scarf here, on my desk, probably knowing I'd find it.

Without much preamble, I am pressing the scarf to my nose, suddenly grateful that our recent blood exchange has made my senses stronger – his strong, slightly musky sweet scent fills my nose and my heart pounds in response.

No, I won't be able to stay away for long.

I turn sharply on my heel. "Alice. Could you match this scarf to my outfit?"

Alice blinks up at me from where she kneels in front of my large duffle bag on the floor. She smiles when she catches the scent. "Of course, my Lady. It will be my pleasure."

I nod, setting the scarf on my bedding before grasping my toiletry bag. "I'm going to grab a quick shower," I tell her – and Jasper – ignoring her hasty curtsy as I leave my room.

By the time I am clean and back in my room, Alice has carefully placed my clothing across my desk along with the scarf, folded up my bedding and finished packing up my solitary box, leaving my schoolbooks in the middle of the twin bed with my paperwork on top. She nods her head to me and steps into the hallway, leaving me privacy to pull on white skinny jeans with a navy, green and black plaid print, a plum oversized sweater and Edward's charcoal grey scarf, which I have to wrap around my neck several times. She enters the room with Jasper on her heels as I slip on my regular shoes.

Jasper bows to me, though less formally than Alice. "Forgive me, my Lady, but I couldn't help but overhear your exchange this morning. You wish to leave today, I assume?"

"That's right," I answer.

"Very well. Where to first?"

I bite my lip, feeling the pressure of orders weighing heavily on my shoulders. I'd never been one to boss other's around; hell, I'd never exactly been given the opportunity. But I've always had a strong sense of responsibility and what was more responsible than this?

Clearing my throat, I square my shoulders. "I'd like the box to go into the town car, along with the duffel and the bedding. Then we'll stop by the administration building to drop off the paperwork. From there, I need to stop by the diner where I work and resign my position. And lastly, my Dad's house to drop off the bedding…and to pick up a few things."

Jasper nods and moves to stack the duffel on top of the box, lifting them both easily and moving into the hallway. Alice, for her part, takes the bedding, leaving me a small pile of books.

I leave the key to my dorm and room in the middle of the bed and hurry after Alice and Jasper.

Time speeds up again as we follow my plan, coming across no barriers besides disappointment and sympathy from Sue, as she thinks the reason for my departure is my Dad's health.

Dad, however, is a predictably confused difference. "You're what?"

I shift uneasily in the doorway of the living room. Dad never really had a reason to yell at me when I was younger, but now I wasn't sure is that was the case. Thankfully, Dad didn't have a problem with his health, aside from the obvious.

I clear my throat. "I was accepted into an overseas program in France," I repeat slowly, the lie feeling heavy on my tongue.

At first, I hadn't been sure what to tell Dad – there wasn't much about school that I kept from him. But this scenario was plausible, if not believable. And, better yet, France fit perfectly; after all, wasn't I some reincarnated French maiden?

Dad crosses his arms over his chest. "And you're leaving today?"

"Yes," I say without hesitation.

Dad was in the Navy.

I'm almost sure they trained him to be a human lie detector.

Maybe.

"This is very sudden, Bella."

I wince. "I know, Dad. But I didn't want to tell you until it was certain…"

Dad snorts. "I'm sure it was certain a few days ago. Why wait until now? On the day that you're leaving?"

I sigh, gathering my wits because I could feel myself wavering – forget it, Dad, I'm not really going to France! I'm going to Canada to meet up with my Canadian soul mate because someone's trying to kill him and me, probably, again after two hundred years. By the way, did you know we were alive back then? Crazy, right?

"I don't know what I'm doing, Dad," I confess, feeling my shoulders slump forward. "But I feel like this is the right path for me to take."

A weight lifts off my chest.

Of course this is the right thing to do.

Dad, though, assumes I'm talking about the overseas program. "UDub isn't cutting it for you, kid?"

"Something like that."

Dad scratches his facial hair absently. "I always knew you were destined for bigger things, Bella. This seems like something big. I can't stop you from going but I can give you my full support. If this is something that you need to do, then do it."

I smile.

Dad doesn't even know how perfect those words are – how they apply to my real situation.

I hug him tightly, breathing in his Dad smell; a mixture of Old Spice and tobacco and peppermints. "I love you, Dad."

He strokes my hair, holding me tighter for a moment. "Love you, too, kid."

With Dad's blessing, I race up to my room and go straight to Mom's old jewelry box. Not knowing when or if I'll ever be back here makes my entire body ache…but I can't just stay away from Edward, either. I can, however, take reminders – like Mom's heavy charm bracelet and her solitary diamond necklace and Dad's old watch. I slip the bracelet and the watch onto the same wrist and carefully put the delicate necklace into my jeans pocket. Looking around my childhood room, I quickly locate an old book of French poetry that Mom was fond of, several of my favorite clothes – including a few more Navy shirts – a storybook Dad used to read me and a carrying case for Daisy Duck, which was currently sitting in the box on my bed. Securing the pipe and a small stash and hiding them in a small bundle of clothes, I grab my books and glance back at my room from the doorway.

I hope I can come back here.

I give Dad one more lingering hug and find my resolve to leave with my head held high because I know this is the right thing for me to do – how could it not be?

Alice immediately takes my burden from me, easily squeezing the items into the stuffed duffel bag in the trunk; Jasper holds the door open for me and closes it soundlessly as I sit down on the luxurious leather seat.

Once on the highway, Jasper quietly informs me that the trip into Canada will be broken up into two parts – a road trip to Vancouver Island and a helicopter ride into the deep north of the country.

I settle into my seat, closing my eyes and fiddling with the accessories on my left wrist.

Soon, Edward. Soon.

A/N: Woo, an update! :D Hope everyone had a good holiday or will have a good holiday, since I know there are a few to still be celebrated. Mine was great. Lots of relaxing that I needed!

SIDE NOTE! It's happened! The Lemonade Stand recognized this story and now we have a ton of new readers! Welcome! Thank you!

Shout out to the first ten reviews of the last chapter (plus guests)…

Kathy – While I'm usually flattered by reviews that say "please update!", I am not flattered by reviews that say "Seriously? It's been two weeks! Update already". I don't appreciate that type of tone in a review, especially since I am one of the authors that not only regularly update, but I finish every story I start. While I recognize that you will be without internet, you should remember that my writing is free – I honestly don't owe you anything. I'll update when I update. Like everyone else, I deserve to have a stress free holiday and trying to keep up with updates over Christmas is unnecessary – especially since I'm on Winter Break from my classes. Excuse me for needing and wanting a break.

Maysnrs – Yes! Lol I think they both did the right thing in this situation, though. She got her time and then she gets to go with him! Win win!

WishingWellPenny – "mighty pair of balls" was one of my finer moments lol

Twilight Rocker 12 – lol J'adore Blood does sound horrible, but…well, me too, girl. Me too lol

Jansails – I'm glad you're enjoying the slight rollercoaster!

Lilypad10 – He doesn't expect her to leave her life behind, but then again…he kind of does. Men, right! Lol

Jmcfall – I did hear about Carano's loss and with what's happened lately in America, it really hits me hard. I grieve for her, along with the rest of the fanfiction world.

1sparklygirl – LOL Yeah, Bella! You've already been separated for 200 years! Geez!

Pumpkinmykitty – Hmm, I hope my Bella is a little bit more selfish than cannon Bella. And Emmett's a darn cockblocker lol

Sadie1787 – LOL I did leave a cliffy, huh? My bad, my bad…but not really, it was intentional!

Super special shout out to the first review of the last chapter…Glitter Poisoned My Blood – Oh. They'll shag. And when they shag, we're gonna know about it.

As always, be brutally honest. I can take it (and dish it out).

~cupcakeriot

**Due to the fact that it's been two weeks since I last updated, I will not be responding to reviews outside of this authors note unless you had a question on the last chapter. Review responses will go back to normal after this update.**